Second Life is a popular online virtual world where anyone can create a virtual persona or avatar, visit interesting locations within the 3D environment, interact with other inhabitants, and build 3D stuctures and applications for use within the online world.

Through a grant from the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities and working with the New Media Consortium, WSU recently purchased a plot of land in Second Life where interested faculty, staff, and students can design applications that can be shared with other schools. One of our first projects will be to work with Dr. Jackie Hatlevig (Nursing) to develop so-called garbage houses that students in Children's Advocacy Studies Training (CAST) courses can use to learn to identify signs of child abuse when making a home visit.

Contact eLearning project lead John Stafford (Pico Congrejo in world) with questions. Access to Second Life is free and instructions for getting started can be found online. There are also online lists of noteworthy educational sites in Second Life that you may find useful. Feel free to vist our site on the Teaching 7 island of the New Media Consortium Campus using the Second Life URL (SLURL) or by searching for us in world. You will need to create an avatar to visit our site.

Second Life is a large, open, and relatively unrestricted social environment intended for adults only. A special teen grid is available for younger residents. Although there are plenty of interesting Second Life locations with potential academic value, there are also plenty of adults using the virtual world in ways that might not appeal to you. Learn how to landmark and teleport to selected locations so that you can visit the places you like and avoid the places you don't.